Police tribute to Sergeant Matt Ratana as officers buy him a McDonald's and keep a chair empty for him

Grieving police officers due to work an overtime shift with Sergeant Matt Ratana paid tribute to him by buying a McDonald’s breakfast and saving a chair for him.

Sergeant Richard Lovelock said that although the gesture was “daft”, it was inspired by a “touching moment” that had helped the team come to terms with Sgt Ratana’s death on Friday.

Sgt Lovelock posted a picture of the breakfast, which was accompanied by an All Blacks Rugby shirt, in honour of Sgt Ratana’s background and enthusiasm for the sport.

“Matt was one of those familiar faces, he certainly wasn’t frightened of doing the overtime and he wasn’t frightened to travel,” Sgt Lovelock said.

“He should have been on shift with me today and yesterday as well and so it was quite sad really, turning up to work and knowing that he should have been there and he wasn’t.

“My colleague Chris got him the breakfast because Matt, being the type of guy he was, bought him one when he was last in and said ‘don’t worry, sort me out next time’.

“They’re quits now.

“I know it sounds daft but it’s just those touching little moments that have helped us all through yesterday and today.”

Sgt Ratana was shot and killed in the custody centre in Croydon in the early hours of Friday.

Police said a 23-year-old man shot himself. He remains in a critical condition in hospital.

A man arrested at around 2am on Sunday in Norwich, Norfolk, on suspicion of supplying a firearm, remains in custody at a south London police station.

Sgt Ratana’s colleagues’ breakfast tribute came National Police Memorial Day, which has seen multiple commemorations take place for officers across the UK that have lost their lives while on duty.

The post has received more than 3,000 likes and been shared almost 5,000 times on Facebook.

Sgt Lovelock calculated the pay that Sgt Ratana would have earned while working on the overtime shift and has donated it to a JustGiving page supporting the family, which has already raised more than £61,000.

Sgt Lovelock has also served 29 years with the Metropolitan Police, the same as Sgt Ratana before his death, and said they had often talked about retirement plans.

“We’ve got similar interests in rugby and beer and all those things that lads talk about but he genuinely was one of the nicest guys,” he said.

“You can see that in the tributes paid to him by so many people.

“We’re a team, we work as a team.

“So when the team went for breakfast this morning, we didn’t want to leave Matt out so we got him that breakfast.

“The reality is he probably would have needed several.”

PA Media contributed to this article

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